Jassid

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small sap-sucking insect known for feeding on plant juices, often considered a pest due to the damage it causes to crops and foliage, especially in agriculture
2. An agricultural pest that extracts sap from plants, leading to potential weakening or disease of affected crops, recognized as a tiny insect species
3. A diminutive insect species that feeds on the sap of plants, commonly regarded as harmful to cultivated plants by reducing their vitality through feeding damage

Etymology: Many insects that feed on plant sap are grouped by entomologists into the family Cicadellidae, and "jassid" is an older common name taken from a Latin-based scientific name. Its root is "Jassus," a genus name coined in New Latin, the Latin used by naturalists from about the 1700s onward to label species and groups. The ending is the clue. In zoological naming, "-idae" marks a family, and the English-speaking world later shortened such family names into everyday nouns, so "jassid" is essentially a family label that came to stand for any member. Its use in English dates from the 19th century, and it remains mostly a term used by entomologists and gardeners.

Synonyms: leafhopper